California questions $31 million in spending by Montebello
September 22, 2011 Leave a Comment
By Jessica Garrison and Abby Sewell, Los Angeles Times
September 23, 2011
State auditors found Montebello improperly handled $31 million, including instances in which officials used funds meant to improve blighted neighborhoods on fancy dinners in Las Vegas, golf, embroidered polo shirts and other “frivolous” items.
The two audits, released Thursday, mark more bad news for the city of 65,000 east of downtown Los Angeles. Montebello is seeking a private loan to avoid running out of cash this fall and is the subject of an FBI investigation into allegations that it misused federal housing money.
Officials from the state controller’s office spent months reviewing Montebello’s books dating back to 2005 and said they were troubled to learn that the city regularly used money designed for specific purposes to balance its budget — in apparent violation of the law.
Read the entire story.
